Customer Reviews

The Nature of Horses: Exploring Equine Evolution, Intelligence, and Behavior

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This was an excellent recommendation by a horse-lover friend. Budiansky manages to give the horse-lover (or even a non-horsey person) a wonderfully new and broader understanding of horses. As the subtitle reads: "Exploring Equine Evolution, Intelligence and Behavior", that is exactly what the book does. The first 15 pages alone were an eye-opener for me, a seasoned horse-lover. This is the kind of book, where one keeps saying: "I never thought about that, but it makes a lot of sense!". Budiansky's writing style is down-to-earth and he never professes to be a complete expert. He emphasizes that his experiences and knowledge come from being a horse-lover and owner of horses and not as a professional researcher or scientist. This approach and clear understanding of his own limitations makes this book special. Complex evolutionary theory, genetic concepts and medical topics are covered with ease, using simple language. The use of simple diagrams and pictures enhance Budiansky's descriptions and explanations. The book uses a wonderful progression from the evolution of the horse to the future of the horse as its guide, covering a vast array of topics in merely 280 pages. But one does not get the feeling of brevity or over-simplification. Each topic is covered with equal enthusiasm and sincerity. Because of his own fondness for horses, Budiansky allows space to give advice. Conclusions are voiced when appropriate, but they are understated, allowing the reader to make their own conclusions. Budiansky sources from a wide range of areas, scientists, trainers, philosophers, historians, thus covering almost every and any area a horse enthusiast (of any kind or type) would find interest in. This was an eye-opening book, complimented with a beautiful cover. It should be a fundamental read for anyone even vaguely interested in horses.

My only regret about this book is that it is too short! The author writes in a way that is both informative and easy to read, pulling together many resources to attempt to provide a comprehensive and objective look at the horse, its evolution and relationship with humans.

I particularly enjoyed the sections on the horse's domestication and horse genetics. The discussion of the way in which horse breeds have been brought into existence and the various motivations for breeders to proceed with closed studbooks, while espousing the notion that they are breeding a horse suitable for a particular purpose.

But there is much more. The story of the horse is expanded with explainations of anatomy and physiology and how these have affected the horse's evolution and interactions with man. How a horse's digestive system affects its size, ability to prosper on poor grazing and performance for instance, or why the absolute speed of horses, and indeed other quadrupeds, is determined by their physiology.

I enjoyed this thoroughly and intend to not only read it all again but check out many of the references provided on some of the topics.

As a rider, trainer, and avid reader of equine literature, I can say assuredly that this is a "must read" for anyone serious about truly understanding why horses behave the way they do. It debunks many of the long standing myths that are so oft repeated in the horse world. Budiansky also gives us some history behind the human-horse relationship. Enjoyable to read, and has added to the relationship I have with my horses.

I was not disappointed with this book. Very professionally written about what makes horses do what they do. It is not based on opinions but on scientific facts and observations. After reading it, you know more about why a horse spooks, is claustrophobic, is herd bound, etc. The more you know, the more you understand how to deal with your horses because you understand better why they behave that way. I recommend this book for anyone serious about learning the nature of horses.

This is a valuable read for any horse owner. It contains some good scientific explanations, but should still be easily understood by all.

Overall, this was a great book, but there were several drawbacks. The author writes in a very scientific way, and puts so much information into one paragraph-long sentence that, having no time in the middle to pause and recollect and sort what you have read, in some places it was very difficult to understand. Because of this, several chapters were very slow reads for me. The author also employs the use of many large, scientific words, and I found myself constantly running for my dictionary. Although this did present a problem in some cases, the book very educational and i feel all the wiser for my persevering through it. If you have the time and patience to go through it slowly, it is well worth the money.

this book is one of the most informative and comprehensive book published on the equine. All of the chapters contained usefull information and helped me uderstand the horse better. One chapter I spacially liked was the chapter on the sight of the horse it offerd both the pros and the cons of sight testing in horses along with other animals.

Every horse person should read this book to better understand these amazing creatures. Stephen really does a good job pointing out the problems we've caused in our horses, and reasoning behind the things they do. The only criticism I have is that even with how much I love horses, it was very hard to get into the book. I read it over a pretty long period, and it wasn't until the last couple chapters that I found myself continually wanting to read more.

This book is extraordinarily insightful and walks the reader through the history of development of the modern horse's mind and it's relationship with man through the ages.
Absolutely invaluable in the making of the human-equine partnership needed for successful competition in equestrian sport.

The Nature of Horses is an excellent book to begin to understand your horse. This book takes a scientific approach to various aspects of horse physiology and psychology. The book is presented in an objective voice with scientific experiments to back up the content.

Before one can begin to correct or train their horse, this book is a must. It is an excellent resource in the journey to understanding horses.